A/N: Just a heads up, this story is about to kick into high gear. The pace is going to pick up dramatically, as is the action so get ready! Off we go!
Chuck sat on the bare floor of the living room. All the furniture had been pushed against walls or moved into other rooms so he would have plenty of room to work. Scattered on the floor all around him were the components that once made up his desktop computer and television. Now it was just a big mess of circuitry and wires. Chuck was examining each piece, looking for anything that didn't belong. The components from his television were to his left, and the ones belonging to his computer were on his right side. He was also waiting to hear back from Morgan who had been trying to procure one or two of the monitors from the video game tournament from Large Mart. It was the only other location he had received one of the mysterious messages, and he was hoping to find parts in common among all the devices, since he wasn't entirely sure what the microchips Shaw had mentioned looked like. For now he focused primarily on his computer, since his time with the Nerd Herd had exposed him to far more computer parts than TV ones. He had a better chance of finding something out of place as a result, but so far, nothing had caught his attention.
Jill walked in from the kitchen holding a steaming cup of coffee. She stepped carefully around the electronic parts strewn across the floor and placed the cup next to Chuck. He glanced up briefly and gave her a quick smile of appreciation.
"Figured you could use a jolt of caffeine" she said pleasantly. "Used to be when you were working this intensely on something, you'd go through cup after cup to stay focused."
"Still do" he replied. "Though those were usually overnight study marathons, and now I have the luxury of not having to go to class, so now I can work during the day. Much easier when I don't have to choose between working and sleeping."
Jill smiled as she managed to find a spot to sit.
"You never seemed to mind giving up sleep back at Stanford. Some nights it felt like you stayed up just for the thrill of it."
"Well things were a lot simpler back then, Jill. My life consisted of classes, studying, goofing around with Bryce, and spending time with my girlfriend."
"We did have some good times Chuck. I miss life being that simple."
"Yeah, great times. Like the time you dumped me, or the time Bryce got me kicked out. Besides, life was never that simple for you anyway, you were busy being recruited to work for a secret organization, and preparing to betray your country and everyone who cared about you."
"Chuck, you know if I could go back and change that I would."
"Do I? Jill, you lie to me more often than you tell the truth. You nearly got me killed more than once, and even when you actually helped, it was more about saving your own skin than anything else. That's not exactly the track record of someone unhappy with their life choices."
"Well I'm here now trying to help."
"Again, to save your own skin."
"Okay, well if I'm such a bad person, why did you make the choice to help me escape instead of arresting me?"
Chuck hesitated before responding, setting down the motherboard from his computer. He had been working while talking, but now he looked right into Jill's eyes. He sighed.
"Partly because in the end you did help me, and partly because I saw a glimpse of the girl I used to be in love with."
"And what about now? Sarah's not here Chuck, so tell me the truth. Is there any part of you that's still in love with me?"
Chuck was silent for a moment. The question had caught him off-guard. He could see a hint of hopefulness in Jill's eyes. Before he could respond, she started leaning towards him, and her intentions were clear.
"No" he said quickly but firmly, before she could get any closer.
Jill stopped, then slowly pulled back. The expression on her face was a bit of confusion, a bit of hurt, and something else Chuck couldn't quite read.
"No?"
"No. Jill there was a time when I would have leapt at that question and said yes as fast as I could. It would have been quickly followed by the sound of my sister killing me, because she was sick of how hung up on you I was. But then I met Sarah. She changed me Jill. She'd tell you I'm the one who changed her, but she changed me every bit as much. She's the one I'm in love with. The only one. Now, and always."
Jill quickly got to her feet.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"It's okay, no need to feel embarrassed."
"I'm not embarrassed, I'm confused and I'm frustrated."
"Why?"
"Why? Because you took me in Chuck. You literally invited me to live in your house. That's not something you do for just anybody. You're telling me you can invite a girl to live with you that you don't have feelings for?"
"Jill, you needed somewhere safe, and I...we needed any help you could provide. I couldn't risk you getting arrested, so having you stay here made the most sense."
"So it was simply a matter of convenience for you."
"I wouldn't necessarily put it like that, I-"
"No. No Chuck, it's fine. At least now we clearly understand each other."
Jill stormed off to her room without another word. The only noise was the door slamming shut behind her. Chuck was baffled. The entire conversation had seemingly come out of left field. He returned to the parts scattered around the living room, trying to focus, while also suddenly feeling very eager for Sarah to get back.
Sarah was sitting alone in the Castle conference room, watching a computer monitor that was currently displaying a live feed from the cell Shaw was in. At the moment Shaw was lying on the small bed, hands behind his head, looking as though he didn't have a care in the world. Sarah bit her lip and took a deep breath, trying to will her mind to see Shaw as just a prisoner in a cage, and not as the man who had tormented her on multiple occasions. She didn't take her eyes off the screen, even when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Hey, you holding up ok?" came Carina's voice from behind her.
Sarah swiveled her chair around slowly to face Carina.
"You were watching the interrogation. What did you think about Shaw? Think he was being completely honest with us?"
"I asked about you, sweetie. I heard about your little queasy moment after Shaw arrived. You seemed to be alright when we came back out to start the interrogation, but right now you don't look too well. So tell me how you're feeling."
Sarah sighed.
"Carina, right now I feel like everything is starting to crack. Or maybe I'm starting to crack. I don't know."
Carina sat down next to Sarah and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Tell me what's wrong."
"Chuck's Intersect has been compromised. He can still Flash, but he's lost all of his other skills."
"So? That's exactly how he was before he got the upgraded Intersect and he was fine. Plus he's gone through spy training . He can do a lot of things he couldn't do in the past, even without the Intersect."
"I know."
"So what's the problem?"
"Over the years, with everything we've been through, I think I started to see Chuck as sort of invulnerable. Even during times when things looked bleak, I always believed Chuck could find a solution, and that if he didn't, I'd have his back and get us out of trouble using my own skills. Like no matter what, we could escape any jam, and defeat anything or anyone no matter what. But now I'm actually kind of scared about what might happen."
"Why? The two of you, along with Casey, have a pretty impressive resume as a team. You've proven yourselves repeatedly."
"But not against this. I know firsthand what it's like to be basically reprogrammed. To have my memories ripped out, and then used to go after the people I love. To be turned into a programmable human assassin."
Carina nodded in understanding.
"And you're afraid that's what the Overseer is gonna do to Chuck."
"Because now we know he can! He can manipulate the Intersect and we don't know anything! We don't know who he is, where he is, or what he ultimately wants. Chuck is vulnerable in a way that he never has been before, and it terrifies me Carina!"
"But we got you back" she replied softly. "You're proof that even a plan as terrible as that can be beaten."
Sarah shook her head sadly.
"I had Chuck. He had years of experience with the Intersect, and his father was the one who created it. He was the best person possible to help me after Quinn did what he did, but even he was on the verge of giving up. If the Overseer does the same thing to Chuck, we might lose him forever."
"We won't let that happen" Carina said, determination in her voice.
Tears began welling up in Sarah's eyes.
"I can remember him looking at me, begging me to remember something, anything about him. Trying to tell me about the love we had for each other, and how much I meant to him. I remember looking at him with pity, thinking he was some sap who had deluded himself into believing a romance that was only meant as a cover was actually the real thing. I also remember how determined I was to kill him. The thought of Chuck becoming that kind of person, the possibility of staring down the barrel of a gun pointed at me by the person I love, knowing he would be feeling nothing except a desire to end my life to complete a mission...I can't handle it."
"So don't think about it. Go home. Go spend some time with your husband. And then we'll find this bastard and put an end to his plans for good."
The specially programmed phone rang, the unique tone soft but unmistakable.
"Hello?"
"I finished my preparations. It's time to make your move."
"Yes Mr. Overseer."
"Make sure the primary target doesn't find out what's going on until the proper time. That part is crucial. I have made special arrangements for Mr. Bartowski myself."
"Of course sir."
"And make sure the secondary target is secure. If you slip up there, everything else falls apart."
"I will. I'm looking forward to it."
"Alright. Do what you need to do, just make sure you stick to the plan. You're certain you're ready for this, right? I know-"
"Sir, I'm ready and I'm fully committed."
"Good. I just wish I could see their faces afterwards."
The last sound before the line went dead was the amused chuckling of the Overseer.
John Casey was bored. He was sitting alone in the break room at the back of the Buy More, waiting for the remainder of his lunch hour to end. He had finished eating within the first fifteen minutes, and now alternated between glancing up at the clock on the wall, and staring at the vending machine. He imagined each of the various items in the machine as targets, and mentally pictured the different types of shots he could take, the results of which would either dislodge an item from its spot, or destroy it completely.
Casey's imaginary target practice was interrupted by his phone buzzing. He picked it up from the table to read the text message he had just received. It was from one of the guards standing watch over Shaw. He had given the guard his number in case of an emergency, so he was immediately on alert before he'd even opened it. It said:
Daniel Shaw says he has important information about a potential mole. Subject also says message is urgent. Presence requested immediately.
Casey felt the familiar surge of adrenaline he got whenever he was headed into a potentially dangerous situation. He reached his work locker, grabbed his handgun from its concealed spot, then opened the access panel to punch in his code to enter Castle. Almost as soon as the door began to open, his phone began to beep and buzz, indicating the alarm inside Castle had been set off. No more than two seconds after that he heard the sound of gunfire, but it was somewhat muffled, meaning it was likely coming from the holding cells. He pressed a button that cleared the alarm from his phone, then a second button that speed dialed Gertrude. She answered after just one ring.
"Alarm just went off inside Castle. Shots fired" he said quickly but quietly as he entered inside.
"I'm on my way" she responded quickly, and immediately ended the call.
Efficient and smart, Casey thought to himself. What a woman.
He didn't bother contacting Chuck or Sarah. It would've been redundant, since they would have received the same alarm on their phones and were likely on their way already. As for Carina, Casey was pretty sure she was in Castle already, and if she was, he didn't want to give away her position in case she was in hiding. Besides, they had a code phrase for situations like this, so if he needed her or needed to find her, he could.
Two more gunshots rang out, and this time Casey was sure the location was the holding cell area. He didn't rush, however. His training kicked in, and with his gun drawn and held low in front of himself, he crouched low and leaned towards the side of the staircase, giving him a view of main conference room. It was empty, but two chairs had been flipped over, and there was an unmistakable splatter of blood on the table and carpet. Casey silently but swiftly descended the staircase and made his way to the first corner leading towards the cells. He quickly poked his head out then withdrew it. The brief view of the hall beyond had revealed no one in view, so he slowly peeked out around the corner again, but there was no movement or sound. He did, however, see a trail of blood that obviously belonged to whomever had been injured in the conference room. Whoever had left it, had been bleeding steadily but not profusely.
Casey continued towards the cells, following the trail of blood, and pausing at regular intervals, listening for any movement or any other sounds that might indicate someone was close by. He was about to reach the final corner that led to the holding cell hallway when another alarm went off. This one was silent, but red lights placed strategically along the various hallways began to flash. It was an indication that someone had just opened the emergency escape door. Casey hesitated for a second. If he went after whoever was using the emergency door, he would have to go in the opposite direction, backtracking almost two-thirds of the way to the conference room. It was time he didn't want to waste before finding out what was going on in the holding cell area. He crept up to the corner and listened for a few moments, but he heard no noise. He finally dared a quick peek, pulling back almost at the same time he realized there was no need to. The sight that greeted him was a grisly one. There were bodies on the floor, riddled with bullets. Whoever had opened fire had done so with a powerful automatic weapon. All of the guards had obviously been killed almost simultaneously. None of them had even had time to draw their own weapons.
Casey was about to take his phone out and call the others to alert them that Shaw had escaped, when he saw two things that froze him where he stood. The first was the trail of blood. It had stopped, but splatters on the floor led to the opposite side of the hall from Shaw's cell. Inside, lying on the ground, was Carina. She had a gunshot wound to her abdomen, about halfway between her navel and her left side. She also had a second wound to her right leg below her knee that looked like it had been caused by something sharp slashing deeply into it, probably a knife. The leg wound was likely the source of the blood trail. She was unconscious and pale, but she was breathing. The other thing Casey saw was an even bigger shock. On the floor of his cell, with a bullet hole between his eyes, and another one close to his heart, was the body of Daniel Shaw.
Chuck sat at the computer terminal in the Castle conference room, feeling a mixture of shock and disbelief. He had arrived to find Casey and Gertrude moving the bodies of the deceased guards into body bags. Casey had already contacted General Beckman, who was sending a team to collect the remains so they could be transported back to Washington for full autopsies and eventual burials. Chuck had stared at Daniel Shaw's lifeless body for a full minute, half expecting him to get up at any moment. It wasn't until the lifeless corpse was placed into a body bag, that Chuck had begun to accept that Shaw was truly dead. The realization of that fact had spawned a wide range of emotions, starting with relief that he was gone, followed by guilt for the initial feeling of relief, then to confusion and suspicion as to why someone had gone to all this trouble to kill him, who had done it, and how they'd pulled it off.
Chuck was so lost in his own thoughts that he hardly noticed when Casey approached him.
"Hey, Bartowski, you okay?"
The gravelly voice brought Chuck back into reality.
"I'm not sure actually."
"Look, I know this probably isn't how you pictured things going down with the guy, but one less traitor in this country isn't a bad thing."
Chuck let out a breath and didn't respond.
"Okay, you don't wanna talk about it. Fine by me. So did the cameras show who the shooter was? Maybe show how they managed to get into a secure facility?"
Casey scowled at the confused look on Chuck's face.
"I thought you were over here checking out the cameras. Geez Bartowski, you need me to hold your hand for everything?"
"No, sorry, I was just...trying to process things."
"Well process some footage while you're at it."
Chuck turned to the computer and pulled up the program that was connected to all the cameras. He switched from live to recorded footage and rolled the timer back to shortly before the alarms had gone off...and his jaw dropped. All of the cameras showed the same thing: a black screen. He tried fast forwarding and rewinding but every camera showed the same thing: video recording normally then suddenly going to black from about 20 minutes before the alarms went off, until a few minutes ago, when the black screens suddenly came back to life. Every camera had somehow been deliberately disabled at the same time, and kept off long enough, so that whoever had killed Shaw and the guards could get in and out without being seen.
"How is this possible?" Chuck asked aloud, bewildered. He turned to Casey. "These cameras are supposed to be completely secure."
Casey just grunted and moved Chuck out of the way so he could access the keyboard.
"That's why I try to make sure I have a backup plan, Bartowski. Never know when it'll come in handy."
Casey pressed a few keys and a new window popped up on the computer, displaying a live feed from six cameras.
"I don't recognize those cameras."
"You're not supposed to. I put 'em in myself when I came back here with Gertrude. Figured some extra protection couldn't hurt."
"Protection for who? Wait, are you telling me you put up secret cameras and didn't tell anyone? I thought we were long past not trusting each other."
"Don't get your panties in a bunch. I always keep a few surprises to myself, it's nothing personal. You should know that by now."
"Like the Russian vodka?"
"Exactly."
"Except vodka doesn't spy on your friends behind their backs."
"Relax Bartowski. I didn't put them in to spy on you. They're a backup. Not connected to any external networks, just the computers right here in Castle. Figured they might come in handy if our regular cameras went down. Right now I'd say it was a pretty good idea. Only problem is, they're pretty tiny to keep them concealed, which means the video won't be as clear. Plus there's only six so they don't cover the whole facility, but I have one looking down the hall towards the holding cells, and one near the emergency exit."
"Fine, if this works then I'll let it go, but-"
"There" Casey interrupted.
Sure enough, the cameras Casey had put in had not stopped when the other cameras had. Two of the cameras were not in a position to have seen anything, but the other four were. As Chuck and Casey watched the one facing down the hall to the holding cells, they saw the shooter running down the hall towards the cells, their weapon firing before the guards could even react. The shooter's head and face were covered by a black ski mask, and they also had black gloves on. A few seconds after the guards went down, Carina entered the camera's view, clearly bleeding and limping. The shooter was already in Shaw's cell, and the flash of the gun going off as Shaw was shot was easily seen. Carina reached the shooter and it looked like she was attempting to take the shooter out but the shooter was faster. The gun flashed and Carina stumbled backwards, falling into the open cell where Casey had found her.
"Carina..." Chuck moaned
"Hold it together. The shooter's about to come back down the hall."
Casey switched cameras and they were able to see the shooter head straight for the hallway leading to the emergency exit. The shooter's face was still covered by the ski mask, but the footage was still useful.
"See how they don't hesitate, even for a second" Casey commented. "That person knew exactly where they were going."
Casey switched to the camera at the emergency exit where they watched the shooter access the control panel and punch in the code to open the door.
"They knew the code?" Chuck asked, incredulous.
As the door swung open, the shooter reached up and pulled off their mask, their backside facing the camera. Chuck and Casey both gaped in shock.
"But that's..." Chuck began.
Casey switched to the camera that focused on the main entrance to Castle. Rewinding the footage, they were able to clearly see the door open normally, and the shooter walk in. The gun, an automatic rifle, was held loosely in the shooters left hand. The other hand reached into their right pocket and pulled out a knife.
"They got in because they knew how to get in. They had the code. They knew exactly where to go. They also had the code to get out. Chuck, you know what this looks like."
"But it can't be!"
Casey pulled up the emergency exit camera again. Chuck watched again as the shooter took off their mask. It was clearly a woman. Her face wasn't visible, but what caused the lump forming in Chuck's throat was: her hair. It was very familiar-looking long blonde hair. Chuck could barely choke out what they were both thinking.
"Sarah."
The special phone's unique ringtone sounded as it sat on the passenger seat of the moving vehicle. The driver reached over and in one smooth motion, picked it up and pressed the button to answer the call, never taking their eyes off the road.
"Is it done?"
"Yes sir. Everything went exactly as planned."
"Wonderful! With Daniel Shaw out of the way, all the loose ends are being closed, and the final phase of my plan can begin. You obtained the secondary target as well?"
"Not only that, but I think I eliminated one of their team members as well."
"Really? Which one?"
"Miller."
"Well, I must admit I had my doubts about you Jill Roberts, but you have exceeded even my wildest expectations!"
"Thank you sir. I'll be delivering Walker to you at the prearranged location in two days."
"Excellent! If things go exactly as planned, we may not even need her!"
"If that ends up being the case, all I ask is that you let me do the honors."
"Of course. You've certainly earned it. One more thing, I just wanted to remind you that once I hang up, the phone you're using will no longer function. You'll get a replacement at the drop off site. If you have an emergency in the next 48 hours, just activate the device I sent you and I'll handle the rest."
"Understood. Thank you Mr. Overseer."
"Thank you Ms. Roberts."
The line went dead. Jill adjusted her rearview mirror so she could see Sarah Walker, who was laying in the backseat, bound, gagged, and drugged into unconsciousness. Jill smiled to herself, then looked down to the floor of the passenger seat, where she had discarded the custom-made blonde wig that had been designed to match Sarah's hair and style perfectly.
"I truly hope the Overseer doesn't need you Sarah" she said to herself. "I'd rather kill you than use you as bait. Either way, this is gonna to be a lot more fun for me than it'll be for you."
"Jill? Jill!" Chuck yelled as he entered the house. His mind was swimming. After finishing with Casey's cameras in Castle, he had checked the Buy More security cameras, and the one near the loading docks had picked up the blonde woman running to an SUV, getting in, and speeding off. He didn't want to believe what he had seen.
He knew Sarah had her issues with Shaw just like he had. But is she really capable of that kind of cold-blooded murder? he thought as he hurried over to Jill's room. Has she snapped? Has her mind gone haywire again? His mind was racing. It's not like she hasn't murdered someone before, but that was different he thought, trying to convince himself of her innocence. But he also vividly remembered Sarah just recently swearing she would kill Shaw if he tried anything. She had killed to protect him before, had she gone too far trying to protect him again? Shaw had gotten into her head on a deep level. Had it driven her over the edge?
Chuck shook his head as he approached the door to Jill's room. He couldn't believe he was even considering that Sarah was the killer. Normally he would've dismissed it without a second thought. But given everything she'd gone through recently, and considering everything she'd opened up to him about regarding Shaw, he couldn't ignore the possibility, no matter how ridiculous it felt to even think about. Plus, there was the video footage. Sure, they couldn't see the shooter's face, but the hair and style matched Sarah's. The circumstantial evidence couldn't be ignored. Still, Chuck couldn't get himself to believe it was actually her. But the questions lingered.
He banged on the bedroom door but all he got in response was silence. He was about to force the door open when he happened to glance back towards the kitchen, and saw a note tacked to the fridge with a magnet. He dashed over and snatched it. It was from Jill.
Chuck- Had to go on a grocery run. Cleared it with Casey, Gertrude is taking me. He sounded upset. Everything okay? Talk to you when I get back. -Jill
Chuck nearly threw the paper on the ground. He had wanted to ask Jill if she'd noticed anything out of the ordinary but now he'd have to wait. He was in no mood to wait. He then saw all the television and computer parts still scattered across the living room floor. He tore back into them, desperately searching for any clues that might be among them.
As he worked, Chuck couldn't stop the anxious thoughts whizzing through his mind. Why didn't Sarah respond to the Castle alarm? he wondered. Why is her phone going straight to voicemail? Where is she right now? Sarah wherever you are, please be okay, and please get in touch with me soon. I love you. I need you.
Casey had been straightforward with Chuck after they'd viewed the video from Shaw's murder. He was getting Gertrude and they were going to look for Sarah. Their goal would be to detain her, they would do everything they could to bring her in safely, but she was their prime suspect right now. Chuck had gotten Casey to agree to keep Beckman and the local police out of it for now, but if Sarah didn't turn up within 24 hours, all bets were off. Beckman would be notified, as would local and state police. For now, Beckman had been informed about Shaw's death, told there were no leads yet because of the cameras failing, and was now supervising the care of Carina.
Chuck stopped for a moment. Carina Miller had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance shortly after she had been found. Casey himself had carried her outside through the emergency exit so the paramedics wouldn't be exposed to Castle in order to reach her. The last update they'd gotten said she was currently in the ICU, still unconscious, and listed as in serious condition. It was a step up from critical, but her life was still in danger. General Beckman had used her pull to get Carina listed as Jane Doe, and restricted all visitation for the time being out of an abundance of caution.
The fact Carina had been shot and stabbed in the first place was conflicting evidence in Chuck's mind. Sarah wouldn't shoot Carina, they had been friends for such a long time. However, knives were Sarah's specialty, and the shooter had one, and had used it. But Carina had also been left alive while no one else had been. Was it just coincidence, or was it proof of Sarah trying to escape and not wanting to kill her friend? Carina would know for sure whether it was Sarah or not. For a moment Chuck wished she would wake up so she could tell them what had happened, but immediately felt a wave of guilt. Carina was fighting for her life, and he was thinking only of selfish reasons for her to be okay. He needed to stop obsessing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.
When he opened them, something caught his attention. It was the motherboard from his computer, specifically the area near the processor. Something looked odd. Chuck picked it up to examine it more closely then nearly smacked himself in the forehead, realization hitting him. He never would've noticed if he hadn't fixed or upgraded hundreds of motherboards as a member of the Nerd Herd, but next to the processor was an extra microchip that didn't belong there. It blended in perfectly with the chips around it, and would have gone unnoticed by almost anyone else.
Holding his breath to keep his hand from shaking, Chuck grasped the chip with his fingers, and with some effort managed to pull it free. He placed it in the palm of his hand and examined it. It looked innocent enough, until he grabbed a magnifying glass and got a closer look. Under a closer inspection, the microchip had a tiny transmitter embedded into the side of it, perfectly disguised to look like one of the metal prongs that ran all around the sides of it. Before he could do anything else, his doorbell rang.
Morgan Grimes stood at Chuck's door, beaming triumphantly. Beside him were two of the monitors from Large Mart.
"Chuck you would not BELIEVE the day I've had getting my hands on these!"
Chuck didn't answer, he was too eager to get inside the monitors now that he knew what he was looking for. Something on his face must have alerted Morgan that something had happened.
"Hey buddy, everything okay? You don't look that great. Not that I'm saying you look bad, you just-"
"Morgan, let's just get these babies inside so I can open 'em up."
"Right! Right yes let's do that. Uh, so where should I ...oh I see you have the living room ready to...okay following you in."
Chuck had been moving while Morgan had been talking and carried the monitors to the living room floor. Within minutes he had disassembled the monitors and was scouring the microchips. It didn't take long to find the chips in each monitor that matched the one from his computer. He turned his attention to the television parts, expecting to find another matching chip. But despite showing Morgan what he was looking for so he could help, two hours passed, and neither of them had found anything, despite a thorough inspection of every single component of the TV.
"I don't get it!" Chuck exclaimed in frustration. "Why isn't it here? It has to be here!"
"Are you sure these are all the parts?" Morgan asked. "You didn't leave any pieces somewhere else?"
"No, I'm positive everything is here. There's no way anything is..." he trailed off.
"What?" Morgan asked eagerly. "No way anything is what?"
"Hold on" Chuck replied, grabbing his phone.
He dialed Casey's number. It took several rings but Casey finally picked up.
"What's the problem?" he asked gruffly. "We haven't seen any sign of Walker so if you're calling to ask-"
"No, Casey, I need to know if Jill contacted you about running errands a couple hours ago."
"Yeah, she called me telling me you were taking her to go shopping. I wasn't thrilled, but it was your call. Next time though, just man up and tell me yourself."
"Shit" Chuck replied.
"Come on Bartowski, I've been harder on you than that before."
"She lied."
"What?"
"She left me a note saying she'd called YOU and arranged to go shopping with Gertrude."
"So she could pass through the motion detectors and we'd never suspect a thing."
"And since we both thought the other knew and that she was being escorted..."
"We wouldn't catch on until she was long gone."
"So she escaped. But why, and why now?"
"Bartowski, I'm thinking tha...sss...ing...ow...ame..." the call cut off in a hiss of static.
Chuck tried redialing several times but for some reason the call didn't seem to be going through.
"Chuck, how did you know Jill bolted?" Morgan asked after Chuck frustratedly tossed his phone onto the kitchen table.
"Think about it Morgan. I start getting all these weird messages, on my computer, at the game tournament, and on my TV. We open them up and find the chips responsible. Shaw admitted he was the one who put them there. But he claimed he never put one in the TV. That means someone else did. It's not here now. That means someone took it out. We have the place wired to detect anyone going in or out, and no one else came or left after we saw the message on the TV except for you, Alex, Casey, Gertrude, and me and Sarah. Which leaves one person."
"Jill."
"Exactly."
"Okay, but why would she do that? If she's running from the guy the messages warned you about, why would she show up in person AND be part of the messages you got? That's doing the same thing twice. Seems like a big waste of time."
"Unless she's the one who sent the messages, maybe to give us an extra reason to help her, or to make the threat seem urgent, so we wouldn't ask too many questions."
"But why though?"
"I don't know Morgan, but you can bet I'm gonna find out."
Before either of them could say anything further, the doorbell rang again. Chuck went over to answer it. It was the mailman with a delivery, and he needed a signature. Chuck signed, and was given a very light package in return. He thanked the man and brought the package to the kitchen table.
"Online shopping?" Morgan asked, eyeing the box.
"Not that I remember" Chuck replied with a frown. "Huh, there's no return address on it."
He opened the box and removed some packing material and his frown deepened. The box was empty except for a small card on the bottom, only slightly larger than a business card. He picked it up and saw there was a message printed on it:
Mr. Bartowski, it's time we met. I'm sure you have plenty of questions right now, and I have the answers for you. Tell no one that you received this message. When you flip this card over, you will see I have programmed a special Flash for you that will reveal the address where you will meet me, and when. I give you my word, it's only the address and time. I didn't put anything sinister in this one. Come alone. I'll know if you don't. I don't like threatening people, but if you don't follow these directions exactly, or if you try anything, you WILL regret it. I'm sure by now you know what I'm capable of. I look forward to meeting you at last. -The Overseer
Chuck looked up, his skin crawling.
"What is it?" Morgan asked.
"It's nothing" he replied. "Hey can you grab me some juice from the fridge?"
"Sure no problem."
As Morgan walked to the fridge, Chuck took a deep breath... and turned the card over. Immediately he Flashed on the familiar looking design. His mind filled with images of a building and an address, quickly followed by images of various clocks all set at the same time, then finally by images of calendars with the same date circled on each one. The Flash ended and Chuck inhaled sharply. He glanced over at Morgan, who was still focused on the juice and hadn't noticed. Chuck took a deep breath. The Overseer wanted to meet him. Based on what he saw when he Flashed, he would be face to face with the man in less than two days.
A/N: Next couple of chapters are gonna be longer, lots to cover, so they may take a bit longer to churn out, but I will get them out as soon as I can! Oh, and in case you're wondering, the incident at Castle WILL be addressed further. You'll find out more about exactly what happened, and of course find out how Sarah ended up where she is, but that's all I will say about it for now...
